Patients struggling after dental chain closes offices
Patients across America are struggling to find alternative care after dental chain, Allcare Dental, announced that it was closing all its offices earlier this week.
Allcare Dental issued a statement saying that dental offices would remain closed after the festive break and thousands of patients are now confused about their future healthcare. Many patients have already paid for dental treatment, which they will not receive and others are worried about getting their dental records back and finding alternative dental care.
The announcement came as a surprise to patients and employees and there is now a great deal of confusion surrounding the future; the telephone network has been shut down and as a consequence, people are having difficulty getting in touch with representatives from the company. The computer system has also been closed down.
The Allcare Dental company is based in New York but had dental offices in several states. Dr Matthew Messina, a consumer adviser from the American Dental Association, has advised patients affected by the closure to contact their state Attorney General’s office and file a complaint.
Allcare forwarded a letter to the state Board of Dental Examiners on Monday; the letter advised patients to visit a website, which had details about the closure and stated that patients could not have been warned in advance because the telephone and computer systems were shut down. Another statement suggested that Allcare had started to transfer patient records and unfinished dental work to other dental providers.
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